Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to contribute to this site by submitting your own content or replying to existing content. You'll be able to customize your profile, receive reputation points as a reward for submitting content.

In today's modern hospital dress codes for nurses are beginning to fade away as a requirement in the clinical settings here particularly with caps still been worn. Indeed many nursing schools in the Nigeria still have their female students in classic uniforms along with caps.

Just because a hospital's dress code does not mandate caps, that does not mean a nurse cannot wear one, if she chooses. Long as there are no restrictions on head coverings, and patient safety isn't a concern, don't see the problem.

Many hospitals and other clinical settings particularly in Lagos are beginning to relax or do away with having caps as required part of one's uniform. In government hospitals, some nurses wore them, others didn't, others reported for duty with the best intentions of keeping the thing on, but as the shift goes on it ended up in a drawer or somewhere in the nurse's station.

Caps are simply impractical with today's nursing practice. Patients are hooked up to all manner and sort of equipment, much of it with wires and or tubing. Dodging IV bottles and lines, and various orthopaedic equipment was bad enough.

Leave us not forget the main origin of nurse's caps, maid's uniforms.

Yes, nursing sisters wore head gear, and not because of keeping their hair clean and or fear of spreading germs (religious orders were running hospitals/providing care for the sick for hundreds of years before the work of Pasteur, Lister and others proved illness was caused by unseen "germs"). Rather it was because as professed virgins their heads had to be covered at all times. Orders then and some probably still do today have "night caps" worn when sleeping,and even the orders that wore huge coifs, normally had another simpler one, or perhaps a veil for indoors or some such.

Good old Florence Nightingale introduced the cap to nursing schools/nurses, by way of the fact all women in Victorian England (and much of the Western world), at that time wore some sort of cap, both indoors and out. Here yes, such caps protected a woman's hair from soot, dust, dirt and helped deal with lice and other common vermin.

As times and fashions changed, young women/girls stopped wearing caps, and soon the fashion died out all together, except for maids, waitresses and other domestic staff, and that included nurses. Even maids began to rebel against wearing caps as they felt it was a badge of domestic work, and when the servant problem became acute, many employers felt it was better to have a maid without a cap, than risk not having one at all, so they gave in.

Of course in nursing the cap was elevated into a symbol of the profession, and began to separate a "trained" nurse from just any char woman setting herself up to offer nursing service.

Many schools then and today controlled just whom got their hands on their caps, and the wearing of the object along with various stripes and such followed a strict code of rules.

Couple of things helped push caps out the door. One, younger women unlike their mothers weren't used to wearing hats (hence the famous line from the musical "Company","does anyone still wear a hat?"), and certainly not indoors.

Contrary to popular belief, many times nurses only had their caps on when the head nurse was on duty, and or a supervisor, the DON was about. Walk into any nurse's locker room back in the day and you would find caps on top of lockers, under lockers, behind lockers.

Temitope Yetunde Alabi wrote:
Why are we now talking about Nurses Cap. We all know that the only thing that make us different from others is that Nightingale cap but do we do still wear them? We the "so called Educated New generation Nurses" drop the cap saying it is obsolete.

Now even the cleaner want to wear what we dont cherish we are now complainning. Many hospitals really amazed me, you will see nurses dressed like Hotel attendant, Air hostess, LASTMA and Wolewole. And thay are proud of such dressing, now some even wear scrubs.

In Lagos State the only institution that still wear Cap with Dignity are LUTH & NOH Igbobi. Others have dropped the caps into the dustbin, some dress like Civil Defence and Road Safety Official in the name of trend \ Civilization cum Hospital Policy. Forget about Cap, we have lost it and so we shd be contented wearing Air Hostess and Reception dress, sebi we are not proud of the cap? Stop complaining. Infact the CHEWs, CHO & the wolewole are eager to collect it from us and wear, most of them call themselves nurses in their communities

Gina Achonu why do we wear the cap ? Does it in anyway improve nursing practice ? I think wearing of nursing cap should be based on choice or it should only be imposed on special occasions.

Kemi Bello Ameh I have worked in a place where Nurses don't wear cap at all their you are wearing scrub or Nurses uniform, In my current place of work the day I resumed without cap I can't forget in a hurry how I was insulted & I keep wondering over cap,I had to quickly look for cap & put on. Till date SNO downward still wears cap compulsorily but PNO & above are exempted from it, I personally don't like the cap but a lot of argument among Nurses that been capless makes one less of a nurse which still which till eternity I will not agree to. The Muslim are allowed to wear moderate hijab too

Oluwaseyi Akeju This cap!! Please can I reason behind this wearing of cap?

Anosike Precious I dont like it but our government hospitals make it compulsory

Okpanachi Enape What's the reason for the cap? It does not cover the head, does not have scientific or aesthetic value so, it is just one of the archaic practices that should give way in this modern times. Even the way some people wear the cap looks odd and ridiculous.

Mordi-francis Onos Enite actually, the cap is as old as Florence Nightingale...its suppose to cover the hair from....the same way you wear hand gloves, that is why pictures from old you see the full size cap which over time has been modernized and with the advent of scrubs the cap fades away, now it all depend on various institution dress code.

Joey Akegh Never liked it even as a student not now that .....PNO.....
However, dress code.

Aisha Salami We are now in a modern era apart from being in this era cap is not ideal enough in some unit like neonatal theatre Moreso it doesn't add to d uniform Florence nightingale first predecessor has done away with cap long time ago W Ar nw in era of scrub of which cap is not appropriate on scrub please can we do away with cap

Vivian Frankline I think this cap issue has to be scrapped out because don't see d beauty and its value

Hajiah Zaheedah Animashaun Can't even remember the last time I used cap,wearing my hijab on uniform makes me more comfortable but does that means Am not a professional?

Onyinyechi Ezeofor Must we wear that archaic cap? I so much dislike it.

Racheal Bazunu Clinically D Cap Has No Value. Nurses Shd Be On Scrubs Which Is Meant To Be Worn Only In D Hospital Environs. To Me Both the Cap, belt, gown, skirt, all Are Seen In Underdeveloped Economies, so We Should All Change

Toritseju Tj Pls who nursing cap help... We should think of ways to better the profession, not wearing cap or does it make us think fast

Aliyu Garba Research into what nurses consider as part of their uniforms including cap. Let us know its scientific value to nursing profession, patients or otherwise. We should learn to appreciate or condemn base on scientific reasoning. Also we must start thinking out of the box to achieve quick results.

Aisha Salami Scientifically w can condemn cap because it can b a source of infection that is y cap can't b use in sterile places most nurses don't wash their caps like they wash uniform most nurses have like 5 uniforms but 2 caps scientifically from my own point of view nurses don't need extra dressing we have to make our self clean as possible

Sherifat Olayinka Azeez I think wearing cap make the uniform more beautiful except for those that wears scrub though I don't wear cap because I use hijab

Charity Mathias How i wish i can wear cap through out my practice, i believe it makes d uniform more beautiful. I don't wear cap because I'm now ACNO.

Amarachi Aduma Cap for what? That is ridiculous. Nigerian Nurses think more than this frivolity.

Okpanachi Enape What will make male nurses more handsome then? It surely doesn't add to any good thing. Maybe it was OK in the 17th century but all nurses by their nature and training are beautiful. Nothing in that cap that's not up to a handkerchief can prevent micro organism or infection

Oluwakemi Obileye It beautify our uniform and make us look good and complete

Roseline Ekaba Ukpong I work in military clinic, with military uniform, where will I put the cap? Cap or no cap, be the best.

Aisha Salami I don't know why change is very difficult in Nigeria we don't tend to follow the new trend we always find it difficult to change our old way of life D question is do they still use cap in developed countries. why are we always finding it difficult to move along with d current trend cap and extra dressing Was during Florence nightingale era what is in trend now is scrub which makes us look like a professional and differentiate us from the auxiliaries why can't w abide by this global trend right now in Nigeria the biggest hospital which is national hospital Abuja has long ago scrabbed out cap and so many hospitals are following this trend what is in this cap it rather make us look odd for example above is an example of a typical auxiliary nurse ds is the change we are advocating for we don't want to be like them no!!!!!!!! to auxiliary dressing yes to Normal nurses scrub fine it is our uniform but has been hijacked from let us advocate for scrub without Florence nightingale cap with normal nurses cap